The increasing proliferation of portable devices in today's society is supported by the availability of various wireless networks and technologies that permit wireless communication to and from portable devices. On-board antennas are employed by portable devices to connect with the wireless networks and to connect directly with one another in the case of Bluetooth™ communication. Users of portable devices have come to rely upon the availability and the reliability of their wireless communication capabilities.
The design of the antennas, and their integration with portable devices, is becoming more complex. One driver of this design and integration complexity is the decreasing size of portable devices and associated decreasing physical size of the antennas. Space inside of the housing of portable devices is at a premium due to their ever increasing functionality and number of on-board components. Another driver for design and integration complexity is that modern portable devices typically employ two or more antennas, such that their placement in portable devices must account for proper operation of each antenna while minimizing electronic interference between the antennas and other nearby on-board electronic components. Further drivers of design and integration complexity is the ever increasing frequencies and bandwidths that the antennas must be compatible with. Accordingly, maximizing the signal strength and/or directionality of the radiation patterns of the antennas is important, as the quality of the signal strength and/or the directionality can affect the reliability of wireless communication.